Tracks across the Gulf: Chemical shipping has been fruitful for CG Railway, Ineos

Soaps and detergents made in U.S. factories often get their start in a business partnership near Mobile.

Theodore's Ineos chemical plant uses CG Railway, International Shipholding Corp.'s Gulf-to-Mexico railcar ferry service, to ship phenol to a plant in Mexico. The Oxiteno plant transforms it into one of the key components of cleaning products, then ships it back to the United States via CG Railway.

Using the vessels saves Ineos time, and, in turn, money, said Marc Hill, purchasing manager.

"This saves nine to 10 days, almost cutting the time in half," Hill said.

Ineos is "one of many" companies that supply an Oxiteno plant in Coatzacoalcos, on the Gulf of Mexico, according to Humberto Peralta Ramos, logistics manager.

The plant blends and treats the phenol to create a product known commercially as Canasol NF 900. That product is returned to the U.S. via CG Railway and sold to distributors, which in turn sell it to the U.S. makers of cleaning products.

It is moved in a tank car. Each car will carry appx 70 to 80 metric tons or 155,000 to 165,000 lbs. It is shipped in the same way year round.

Neither Ineos nor International Shipholding nor the Mexican buyer of the phenol offered specifics on volume, citing competition. But one tanker car can hold 70 to 80 metric tons of phenol -- a white liquid or powder, depending on temperature. Regardless of physical characteristics, it is shipped in the same way year-round, according to CG.

Phenol is among an array of products shipped via CG, said Kevin Wild, senior vice president of the International Shipholding Corp. subsidiary.

CG ferries approximately 150,000 metric tons of cargo per year to and from customers located in Alabama, he said, with most of that tonnage added since CG returned to Mobile from a brief stay in New Orleans.

When CG was displaced by construction of the Mobile Container Terminal, International Shipholding moved the business to New Orleans, but there, Hurricane Katrina intervened.

Incentives from the state and Alabama State Port Authority, which funded a new $27 million terminal at state docks facilities on the Mobile River near downtown, helped lure CG back. The terminal, along with International Shipholding's new downtown Mobile headquarters, opened for business in 2007.

When the service moved back, it also doubled capacity. A vessel calls on Mobile every four days, Wild said.

Like U.S. rail transport overall, CG's volume is down about 20 percent this year compared to last, Wild said.